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Your next clue is...

Ok detective what clues do you already have and where do you suspect to find your next clues. That's how it can feel when you start to track down relatives and ancestors from the past. Just when you give up you find another clue. Lets look at some sure ways of finding more ways to trace clues in your ancestry search.

 

Use spelling mistakes for tracing on-line:

Maybe its obvious, but names do change due to mistakes at the time or even mistakes of the manual entering into the databases used by Genes Reunited.co.uk or Ancestry.com Names were spelt in many different ways in the past thus so many similar sounding surnames today. Some genealogy web sites allow you to check the 'alternative spelling' option when searching, which could prove fruitful. Names may have been shortened, too; if you can't find a Thomas, Richard or Henry, try Tom, Dick or Harry instead. There are some useful search tips using wildcards in your search terms on the Genealogy Searching page

 

Maybe a red-herring?

There are a huge amount of red-herrings or false clues which makes it all the more satisfying when you do find the correct records, so be realistic. For example you will need to allow for transcription errors. The people writing the original census records didn't always have the neatest handwriting and original documents are sometimes marked and hard to read. Therefore, it pays to think laterally when searching for your ancestors. If you can't find a relative, try searching for a sibling in the same household. If no record appears on the 1901 census, try searching the 1891 census when perhaps the record was clearer. Also, different web sites use different transcriptions of the same census, which is why having memberships on several sites may prove to be an effective solution - see our free trail page

 

Trace using war records:

The cwgc contains records of the British and Commonwealth personnel who died in the two World Wars, often with details of the battle or location they died in, regiment and the cemetery where they are buried.

 

Visit the area to find clues: 

You're bound to reach a stage where you can't find any more information online, so you may have to resort to Shanks's pony. It's worth noting that not all census records or war records are online particularly those prior to the 1830's. Therefore visiting nearby libraries, neighbours, shops marriage offices, churches and graveyards may provide new clues.